Applying User Insights in Design Development
Design development uses personas, scenarios and population stereotypes early in the design process.
Personas
Persona
A persona is a fictional but realistic profile of the target user, based on real data and insights gathered from user research. It represents their goals, needs, behaviours, and limitations to help guide design decisions.
In section A2.1.1 you were introduced to personas, in this section the focus will be on they are applied to within design development.
Key Elements of a Persona:
- Demographics: Age, gender, occupation, education.
- Goals: What the user wants to achieve with the product.
- Frustrations: Pain points or challenges the user faces.
- Behaviors: How the user interacts with technology and the environment.
- Motivations: What drives the user to use the product.
- When creating personas, always base them on real data from user interviews, surveys, and observations.
- This ensures they accurately reflect the target audience.
Scenarios
Scenarios
A scenario is a short, realistic story that describes how a user (often represented by a persona) interacts with a product in a specific context to achieve a goal.
Key features of a good scenario:
- Based on real user needs (not generic use)
- Includes context (where, when, and why the product is used)
- Describes the user’s goal or task
- Often highlights pain points, constraints, or opportunities
- Helps design teams consider actual use, not just technical function
- Tom uses his coffee machine early in the morning before work, when he’s still tired and short on time.
- He wants a quick, no-hassle brew without having to fiddle with multiple settings or read a display.
Population Stereotypes
Population Stereotypes
A general assumption about how most users in a given culture or population behave or expect a product to function.
Key points on population stereotypes:
- Help designers create products that feel familiar and intuitive.
- Are based on learned behaviours (not biological responses).
- Can differ between cultures, so must be used with care.
- Should not replace actual user testing or research.
- Turning a knob clockwise = increase (e.g. volume, temperature).
- Red = stop/danger, green = go/safe.
- Left-to-right scrolling or reading in Western cultures.
- Pressing a button once = ON, long-press = settings or power off.
- Icons like a floppy disk still represent “save,” even though outdated.
- The floppy disk was a small, square data storage device used from the 1970s to the early 2000s to save and transfer files.
- It could store a few documents or images, however, far less than today’s USB drives or cloud storage.
- Although now obsolete, its shape lives on as the “Save” icon in many apps and software.
- While population stereotypes can provide useful insights, they should not replace detailed user research.
- Over-reliance on stereotypes can lead to designs that overlook individual needs and diversity.
Demographics
Demographics
Statistical data that groups users based on characteristics such as age, gender, income, education, and occupation, often used to identify and understand target audiences in design.
Key points on demographics:
- Help designers identify target audiences for products.
- Inform decisions about styling, pricing, features, and usability.
- Often used alongside personas and market research.
- Can highlight accessibility needs (e.g. age-related design adjustments).
- Product: Budget Smartphone
- Demographic: Low-income users in developing regions
- Design Implication: Durable, low-cost components, long battery life, and offline functionality.
How These Tools Guide Design Development
| Tool | How It Guides Design |
|---|---|
| Primary Persona | Help designers empathise with users and prioritise features that meet their needs. |
| Scenario | Provide a clear vision of how users will interact with the product, guiding design decisions and usability testing. |
| Population Stereotypes | Offer a starting point for understanding broad user preferences, especially in the absence of detailed data. |
| Demongraphics | Help segment users, prioritise features, and adapt styling, pricing, or accessibility. |
Advantages & Disadvantages of Using These Tools
Advantages:
- Ensures the product meets the needs and expectations of real users.
- Enhances empathy and keeps the user present during decision-making.
- Helps avoid designing for “everyone” (which can dilute purpose).
Disadvantages:
- Relying too heavily on stereotypes can lead to overgeneralisation, where designs ignore individual differences.
- Personas and scenarios must be regularly updated to reflect changing user behaviours and technologies or they can become outdated.
- Population stereotypes can reinforce bias or exclude minority groups.
- Relying too heavily on a persona can cause the team to overlook edge cases.
State one user-centered research method the student may have used to understand the target persona for the Apple smart water bottle.
Solution
Answers may demonstrate: Award [1] for each relevant point of the listed terms below that would be used for user-centered research methods up to [1 max]
- Field research
- Task analysis
- User observation
- Interviews
- Surveys
